Best storyline

Through all of the turmoil at Syracuse, about accusations against former assistant coach Bernie Fine and allegations that athlete drug test results were ignored, the Orange looked to have an excellent opportunity to win a second NCAA championship under coach Jim Boeheim. But with Fab Melo declared ineligible Tuesday, what figured to be a contentious and demanding road toward that winner’s platform got even harder. How often will Boeheim be allowed to talk merely about basketball at his required press conferences?

Best first-round game

No. 5 Vanderbilt vs. No. 12 Harvard. Oh, wait, you mean this will be a basketball game, not a game of Words With Friends? Because that would be some serious wordplay, would it not? Actually, it’ll make for some nice hooping, as well. The Commodores showed their grit by finally outlasting top-ranked Kentucky after two close, intense confrontations. The Crimson faded down the stretch and might be no match for the Commodores, but they’ve already beaten Florida State, the No. 3 seed in this region.

Seeded too high

No. 7 Gonzaga. There’s nothing to dislike about the Zags. They have a talented team with potential game-breakers at point guard (Kevin Pangos), shooting guard (Gary Bell Jr.) and power forward (Elias Harris). But the Zags were 3-3 against the only other good teams in their league, won neither the WCC regular season nor its tournament and managed to hang on the same line as the team that beat them twice, Saint Mary’s. Memphis or Creighton would have fit better here.

Seeded too low

No. 14 Saint Bonaventure. Of course, the Bonnies had to win the Atlantic 10 Tournament to get in, but then so did every team on the 13 line and some of those on the 12. But Bonaventure finished third in the Atlantic 10 regular season, so it’s not like its title was a fluke.

The committee stuck outliers—surprising auto-bid winners from serious leagues—into 14 seeds twice in the past half-dozen tournaments. Each time (Xavier 2006 vs. BYU, Georgia 2008 vs. Xavier) the lower seed scared the life out of the high seed before falling. So Florida State has gained no favor with this matchup.

Upset special

No. 10 West Virginia over No. 7 Gonzaga. As much as there is to admire about the Zags and as beatable as WVU has been at times, it seems like the Mountaineers might benefit from being 2,156 miles closer to Pittsburgh’s Consol Energy Center than the Zags. It’s less than a 90-minute drive, so long as Interstate 79 is not clogged with traffic barrels. Both teams are relatively young in the backcourt and have experience inside. So they’re somewhat evenly matched on the court but it's a mismatch on the road to get there.

Best potential team matchup

No. 4 Wisconsin vs. No. 5 Vanderbilt. Facing the Badgers is about as much fun a transmission overhaul. They guard the lane like it’s made of platinum. So yeah, this game might be the type of artistic statement a Scorsese fan would enjoy, but every possession will matter and it’ll be tight at the end—if Wisconsin can find someone to score a few points.

Best potential player matchup

Elias Harris, Gonzaga, vs. Kevin Jones, West Virginia. We don’t have to hope this one happens. It’s scheduled to go off at 7:20 p.m. ET Thursday, so as long as the players don’t lose the time gorging on Primanti’s sandwiches, Harris and Jones will meet. Each is a versatile power forward who can make a jump shot and attack the boards. Harris is a shade more athletic; Jones is a touch bigger.

St. Bonaventure center Andrew Nicholson. Isn’t it beautiful that nine years after the “welding” scandal that tore apart the Bonnies’ athletics department, they would be led back to the NCAA Tournament for only the second time in three decades by a chemistry major? No, wait. That was before. He changed his major. To physics. And he’s not just a brain. Nicholson tore apart the Atlantic 10 Tournament with 70 points and 30 rebounds in three days.

Don’t be surprised if ...

Vanderbilt gives Syracuse all kinds of trouble in the Sweet 16. It's zone defense vs. John Jenkins, the best shooter in college basketball. Jenkins made 126 3-pointers and hit them at a 45.3 percent rate, and we saw in SU’s game against Cincinnati that teams willing to fling it from deep can put the Orange in a hole. The one problem for Vandy is it’s not always strong with the ball, and nothing works better for Syracuse than a turnover that can be transformed into a fast-break dunk.

Sleeper team

No. 11 Texas. The Longhorns are a bit patched together at this point, but they have multiple players who can drive the ball and a shooting guard, J’Covan Brown, who can get 30 when on top of his game. Texas’ portion of the draw is filled with teams whose prospects in a given game often come down to how badly they want to play that day. It’s not a terrible place to be.

The pick

Ohio State. This is not a region filled with great challenges for the top squads. Certainly, Florida State has done well against the ACC’s best, but the Buckeyes have been confronted before by great defenses and handled it well.

This looked like an easy region for Syracuse—and it still could be at the start—but if Vandy and Ohio State are the opponents in Boston, it seems likely one will take down the Orange — and that was before Melo was declared ineligible. OSU has played better basketball in the past couple weeks. If Jared Sullinger gets the kind of room along the baseline in the NCAAs—meaning, if refs actually call the fouls committed—OSU should emerge.